Affiliated with the Intercontinental Church of God and
the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

Our membership is scattered across the
states of Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and the Gold Coast. This
is due to both historical reasons and the fact that our main outlet for
television to present the Garner Ted Armstrong (GTA) TV program covers
regional Victoria, New South Wales and the Gold Coast. More recently the
GTA program has aired via the Sydney community TV station TVS Digital
Channel 44, and in Brisbane the community TV station 31 Digital. There
is growing interest and there is the possibility of fellowship groups
meeting in these areas in the future.

We have a regular fellowship group meeting at East Maitland in NSW as
well as Bulli, NSW. We welcome enquiries regarding attendance at our
Sabbath and Holy Day meetings, including the Feast of Tabernacles held
at Nelson Bay on Port Stephens, NSW, as well as enquiries on the
possible formation of new fellowship groups.

The Intercontinental Church of God (Australia) Inc. is affiliated with
the the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association, sponsor of the
GTA telecast. Both organizations in Australia can be contacted on
telephone number 1300 885 066 or at PO Box 173, Botany, 1455, NSW,
Australia.

Before the arrival of European settlers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples inhabited most areas of the Australian continent. Each
people spoke one or more of hundreds of separate languages, with
lifestyles and religious and cultural traditions that differed according
to the region in which they lived.

Adaptable and creative, with simple but highly efficient technology,
Indigenous Australians had complex social systems and highly developed
traditions reflecting a deep connection with the land and environment.

Asian and Oceanic people had contact with Australia's Indigenous peoples
for thousands of years before the European expansion into the Eastern
Hemisphere. Some formed substantial relationships with communities in
northern Australia.

European contact and settlement

In 1606, the Spanish explorer Luis Vaez de Torres sailed through the
strait that separates Australia and Papua New Guinea. Dutch explorers
charted the north and west coasts and found Tasmania. The first British
explorer, William Dampier, landed on the northwest coast in 1688. But it
was not until 1770 that his countryman, Captain James Cook, in the
Endeavour, extended a scientific voyage to the South Pacific in
order to chart the east coast of the continent that had become known as
New Holland, and claimed it for the British Crown.

The American war of independence shut off that country as a place to
transport convicts, requiring Great Britain to establish a new penal
colony. Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society, had sailed
as a naturalist with Captain Cook, and suggested Australia for this
purpose.

The First Fleet of 11 ships arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788.
Governor Phillip preferred Sydney Harbour and the date he landed in the
Harbour, 26 January, is now commemorated as Australia Day. The First
Fleet carried 1500 people, half of them convicts. Robert Hughes' The
Fatal Shore (1987) is a classic book on the convict system. Hughes
suggests that the penal system had lasting effects on Australian
society. About 160 000 convicts were sent to the Australian continent
over the next 80 years.

The wool industry and the gold rushes of the mid-19th century provided
an impetus to free settlement. Scarcity of labour, the vastness of the
bush and new wealth based on farming, mining and trade all contributed
to the development of uniquely Australian institutions and
sensibilities.

At the time of European settlement in 1788 it is estimated there were at
least 300 000 Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia.
European settlement involved the displacement and dispossession of
Indigenous peoples. It disrupted traditional land management practices
and introduced new plants and animals into fragile Australian
ecosystems.

A nation is born

At the beginning of the 20th century, Australia was an open and
democratic 'new world' society. In the absence of a strongly defined
aristocracy or ruling class, there was a sense that one person was as
good as another. It was commonly held that people made what they could
of themselves, given their abilities.

The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 through the
proclamation of the Constitution for the Federation of six states. The
founders of Federation

believed that they were creating something new and were concerned to
avoid the pitfalls of the old world. They wanted Australia to be
harmonious, united and egalitarian. They had progressive ideas about
human rights, observance of democratic procedures and the value of a
secret ballot.

They drew the line on matters of race, however; one of the first acts of
the new Commonwealth Parliament was to pass the Immigration
Restriction Act 1901, which ensured that immigrants would be of
primarily European origin. (The 'White Australia' policy was gradually
dismantled after World War II until by the mid-1970s it was totally
abolished. Australia now has a non-discriminatory migration policy.)
Numerous diverse links with Britain existed, which many people continued
to regard as 'the mother country'. Australia's constitutional links with
Britain have been progressively loosened since that time.

The great champion of Federation was Sir Henry Parkes, who believed that
Australia was ready for unity because of 'the vigour, the industry, the
enterprise, the foresight, and the creative skill of its people'.

The European population at the time of Federation was 3.8 million people
of whom half lived in capital cities. Three-quarters had been born in
Australia, the great majority of English, Scottish or Irish descent.
Generally, they enjoyed a higher standard of living than their relatives
in Britain. From 1900 to 1914 great progress was made in developing
Australia's agricultural and manufacturing capacities, and in setting up
institutions for government and social services.

The impact of war

World War I had a devastating impact on Australia. In 1914 the male
population of Australia was less than 3 million, yet almost 400 000 of
those volunteered to fight in World War I. As many as 60 000 of those
who volunteered never came back, and tens of thousands more were
wounded, many very seriously. Australians have inherited strong
traditions from the war years. None is more special or treasured in the
Australian ethos than the 'Anzac' tradition of courage, a tradition
forged at Gallipoli in Turkey in 1915. Anzac Day, 25 April, is now a
national day of commemoration of the sacrifice of Australians in all
wars in which they have fought.

'In the end ANZAC stood and still stands for reckless valour in a
good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and
endurance that will never admit defeat. ' - World War I historian
Charles Bean

The period between the two world wars was one of uncertainty and
instability as large numbers of servicemen sought to reconstruct their
lives. Social and economic divisions widened and became more pronounced
during the hard years of the Depression in the 1930s when many
Australian financial institutions failed.

World War II was a difficult, but in some respects empowering, event in
Australian history. Australian forces made a significant contribution to
the Allied victory in Europe and in Asia and the Pacific. The generation
that fought in World War II and survived came out of the war with a
sense of pride in Australia's capabilities.

Post-war peace and prosperity

With the end of World War II the nation entered a boom period. The
number of Australians employed in the manufacturing industry had grown
steadily since the beginning of the century, and many women who had
taken over factory work while men were away at war were able to continue
working in peacetime. While primary industries such as wheat and wool
also continued to grow in output, the percentage of Australians employed
in the rural sector began to decline.

The economy developed strongly in the 1950s with the opening up of
mining resources and major nation-building projects like the Snowy
Mountains Scheme, a complex hydro-electric power scheme located in
Australia's southern alps.

The 1950s was a time of political stability based on the development of
a prosperous society of suburban property owners: the period saw a
steady rise in private home ownership from barely 40 per cent in 1947 to
more than 70 per cent by 1960.

Other developments included the expansion of social security nets and
advances in communications, notably the arrival of television. In sport,
Melbourne's hosting of the Olympic Games in 1956 put the international
spotlight on Australia.

The influx of migrants that began after World War II has continued.
People from some 200 countries in the world have migrated to Australia
in the last 50 years.

A changing society

The 1960s saw great changes to Australia's society and culture. There
were many causes including the ethnic diversity produced by post-war
immigration and the decline of Great Britain as a world power with its
subsequent lessening importance for Australia relative to that of the
United States. This was especially evident during the Vietnam War. The
post-World War II generation - the so called 'baby boomers' - emerged as
an active force, seeking changes to political, economic and social
relationships.

In 1967 the Australian people voted overwhelmingly in a national
referendum to give the federal government the power to pass legislation
on behalf of Indigenous people and to include Indigenous people in
future censuses. The referendum result was the culmination of a strong
campaign by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and was
widely seen as a strong affirmation of the Australian people's wish to
see its government take direct action to improve the living conditions
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The long post-war domination of the national political scene by the
coalition of the Liberal and Country (now National) parties ended in
1972, when the Australian Labor Party was elected to power. The next
three years saw major changes in Australia's social and economic policy
agenda and a heavy legislative program of reforms in health, education,
foreign affairs, social security and industrial relations. However a
constitutional crisis resulted in the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam,
being dismissed by the Governor-General, John Kerr, in 1975. In the
subsequent general election the Liberal - National Coalition defeated
Labor with a landslide and ruled until 1983, when Labor again won
office. A Coalition Government led by John Howard took over from the
Labor Party after winning the 1996 general election and was re-elected
in both 1998 and 2001.

The activities of the Intercontinental Church of
God are paid for by tithes, offerings and donations freely
given by Christians and co-workers who are dedicated to preaching
the gospel according to Jesus Christ.